Golf bowling game



Oct. 27, 1931. c. R. SCHNITMAN GOLF BOWLING GAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledOct. 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. R. SCHNITMAN GOLF BOWLING GAME FiledOct. 24, 1930 Oct. 27, 193

H m .tv .1. 1 mm a J u r. A vs MAM QB. n05 n k, M *0 l m .m 8 8 w|mi W,k k v.0 m w# Q 2w 0 E M RA n. a e @N HM b h N M0 km Patented Oct. 27,1931 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES R. SCHNITMAN, OF WATERIBURY, CONNECTICUT GOLFBOWLING GAME Application filed October 24, 1930.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus, and more particularly toa game board upon which a bowling game may be played with a golf putterand a standard golf ball. One object of the present invention is to.provide a golf-bowl game board of the above nature having aminiaturebowling alley provided with a golf tee-mat at one end and a' set ofsmall ten pins and one or more golf holes at the other end.

A further object is to provide a game board of the above nature havingmeanslocated at means for mechanically re 'stering the number of timesthe pins have con reset.

A further object is to provide a game board of the above nature whichwill be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture,

easy to install and manipulate, compact, 0r-' namental in appearance,and-very eflicient and durable in use. 4

With these and other objects in view there have been illustrated on theaccompanying drawings two forms in which the invention may beconveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the game boardas it appears in use.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same on a slightly enlargedscale showing one of the pins in horizontal position, the section beingtaken along the broken line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the same. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectionalview on an enlarged scale taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofthe apparatus;

Serial No. 491,062.

view of a modified form of the invention showing an electrical switchmechanism actuated by the falling over of a pin to register the scoreupon an indicator, the section being taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through one of the golfcups of the modified form of the invention, the section being takenalong the line 77 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the modified form of apparatus showingthe wiring connections between the pin and cup switches and theindicator.

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional View of the indicating device.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throu bout the several views, the game board incudes a base 10 having vertical side walls 11 and 12 and a rear end wall13 extending upwardly therefrom. Centrally mounted upon the base 10 is arunway 14 having a golf tee mat 15 at one end, and a setof ten pins 16at its other end. The arrangement of the set of ten pins 16 is oppositefrom the customary bowling setup; i. e. the head pin is at the end ofthe runway 14 and the row of four pins is at the front, as shown.Moreover, a pair of shallow curved ball-shaped golf cups 17 and 18 arelocated at the rear corners of the runway 14, .one of said cups beingarranged at each side of said head pin.

In order to cause the ball 48 to return to the front of the game boardafter each stroke, the rear end of the base is supported in raisedposition by a housing 19 having a removable bottom plate 20. The rearend of the runway 14 is provided with downwardly slo ing sides 21,extending outwardly from t e center line thereof in order to cause theball 48 to roll into one of the side gutters 22 located between theedges of the runway 14 and the side walls 11 and 12. The gutters 22 haveoutwardly diverging front ends 23 and 24 and are closed by apair ofinwardly inclined walls 25 and 26. I

Pin setting rack In order to permit the player to easily reclined arm 57extending from a counting set the pins after each putting stroke,provision is made of a rectangular rack 27 located in the housing 19.The rack 27 comprises a pair of side members 28 and 29 con nected byfour transverse slats 30, 31, 32 and 33.

To normally maintain the rack 27 in the upper full-line position shown.in Fig, 2, provision is made of a plurality of spiral compressionsprings 34, four in this instance, said springs being preferablyconnected to the underside of the side members 28 and 29 adjacent theends thereof as by pins 35.-

Provision may also'be made of four tension springs 36 housed withinalined apertures in the runway 14, base 10, and rack 27, said springs 36being secured in apertures 37 as by horizontal bolts 38 locatedunderneath washers 39, the diameter of said washers being larger thanthat of the spring housing apertures 37. Each aperture 37 is closed atthe top by a wooden plug 40.

The base 10, runway 14, housing 19 and rack 27 are herein shown asconstructed of wood, but it will be understood that any other suitablematerial may be substituted if desired, such as concrete, rubbercomposition or rustless metal. The pins 16 may be made of any desiredmaterial, such as wood or hard rubber. Each of the pins 16 is providedat its lower end with a central recess 41-having an interior cross rod42 at the upper end thereof for supporting a depending chain 43. Thechain 43 passes downwardly through a metal tube 44 located within therunway 14 and base 10, and said chain 43 carries at its lower end a nut45 secured in position by a cotter pin 46. Above said nut 46, provisionis made of a washer 47 which is adapted to prevent the pin 16 fromsliding or rolling off the runway after it has been knocked over by theball 48, which is adapted.

to be driven from the tee 15 by a golf club 49. preferably a putter.

The resetting rack 27 is adapted to be moved downwardly after eachstroke has been taken, from the full line to the dotted line positionshown in Fig. 2, by means of an elongated rod 50 rotatively mountedwithin a longitudinal groove in the bottom of the base 10. The forwardend of the rod 50 is provided with a laterally extending foot-operatedpedal arm 51. by means of which the rod 50 may be rocked in a clockwisedirection. This will cause a short lateral arm 52 mounted on the rod 50beneath the center of the set of pins 16 to engage a metal weanplate 53positioned in the top of a strip 53a located between the rack slats 31and 32. The rear end of the rod 50 is provided with a lateral arm 54which is con siderably longer than the arms 51 and 52 and has aflattened apertured extremity 55 for receiving a chain 56 connected withan inmachine 58 (see Fig. 1) adapted to register the number of times thepin setting rack has been operated.

In order to prevent the ball 48 from accidentally jumping out of thegame board, provision is made of a back stop preferably formed of astrip 59 of canvas and supported in position upon a pluralityof posts 60located on the rear end wall 13, and on the rear section of the sidewalls 11 and 12.

Operation In operation, when playing the game, assuming the pins to beset-up as shown in Fig. 1, the player will drive the ball 48 from thetee mat 15 down the runway 14 toward the pins with the putter 49, theobject of the game being to secure the highest total of points in fivesuccessive set-ups, only one stroke being taken on each set-up. As willbe understood, after knocking down any of the pins which it strikes, theball will either return by gravity to the starting point or drop intoone of the cups 17 and 18.

Any desired schedule of scoring may be used, but the following isrecommended:

Each pin dropped from the front row will count five points, the secondrow 10 points, third row 15 points, the head pin in the fourth row 20points, and if the ball goes into either cup 17 or 18, 50 points will bescored. If the player drives a ball off the run-way into the gutter, hemust play it over again with the penalty of one stroke.

In order to reset the pins, it will only be necessary for the operatorto press down with his foot upon the front pedal arm 51 of the rod 50which will cause the lateral arm 52 to ,force the rack 27 against theaction of the springs 34 and 36. Any pins 16 which may have been knockeddown will then be pulled into upright position by means of the chains 43acting through the tubes 44.

Electrical score indicator In the modified form of the invention shownin Figs. 6 to 9. means are provided for visually registering the amountof the score at each set-up. For this purpose, an indicator board 61having a hollow casing 62 is adapted to be supported in convenientposition on the wall of a room, as by brackets 63 and screws 64. Atranslucent glass pane 65 is provided at the front of the board 61,behind which is a transparent glass pane 66 upon which the numbers 5, 5,5, 5; 10, 10, 10; 15, 15; 20, and 50, 50 are arranged in five parallelrows. as shown in Fig. 8. The numbers on the glass pane 66 correspond inposition to the arrangement of the pins 16 and the cups 17 and 18illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

The numbered glass pane 66 is backed up by a rectangular wooden strip 67provided with tapered apertures 68, behind each of which is a lamp 69for illuminating said numbers and adapted to throw an enlarged imagethereof upon the front translucent glass pane In order to illuminate thelamps 69 corresponding to the pins 16, rovision is made of a pluralityof lateral y spaced contact members 70 and 71 located underneath thechain apertures 72 in the rack 27. The contact members 70 and 71 areadapted to be" bridged by a circular metal washer 73, preferablyconstructed of copper and supported by the nut 45 held upon the lowerend of the chain 43, as by the cotter pin 46. By means of thisconstruction, when the pin falls over, the chain 43 will pull thebridging washer 73 upward into electrical engagement with the contactmembers 70 and 71, closing the circuit through the source of current andthe lamp 69 corresponding to the pin 16 which has been knocked down.Each of the contacts 70 are connected to a common ground wire 74 havingconnections leading to one side of all of the lamps 69, while each ofthe contacts 71 is connected a special individual wire 75 to the otherside of the particular corresponding lamp 69.

In Fig. 7 an arrangement of contacts is shown for indicating when theball falls into one of the cups 17. A pair of binding posts 76 and 77are provided in the bottom of the base 10 having contacts 78 and 79adapted to be bridged by a metal disc 80 which is adapted to be moveddownwardly by an upper plate 81, said plate 81 being pressed upnectingeach of said pins with said plate, a rod extending under said runway andhaving a lateral arm engageable with the to of said plate, said rodhaving a lateral pe al at its front end for rocking said rod after eachstroke to force said plate downwardly to reset the pins.

2. In a game board, a runway having a set of pins located at the rearend thereof, an upwardly spring-pressed pin-resetting plate locatedbeneath said runway, means for connecting each of said pins with saidplate, a rod extending under said runway and having a lateral armengageable with the top of said plate, said rod having a lateral pedalat its front end for rocking said rod after each stroke to force saidplate downwardly to reset the pins, said rod having a lateral exten-.

sion on its .rear end for engagement with a counting device to registerthe number of times the pins have been reset.

3. In a game board, a runway having a set of pins located at the rearend thereof, a pinresetting plate located under said runway andconnected to each of said pins, an indicator, and switch means on saidplate under each pin and operable by the falling thereof to visuallyregister on said indicator which pins have been knocked over. I

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature to this specification.

CHARLES R. SCHNITMAN.

wardly by a spiral spring 78a to normally keep the disc 80 out ofengagement with' the contacts 78 and 79. Current is adapted to besupplied through a pair of lead wires 82 and 83 from a power line, .abattery, or any other desired source.

It will be understood that instead of employing the transparentilluminated num bered glass pane 66 to indicate the scores of a personplaying the game, depressible magnetically-operated numbered cards, suchas are used on buzzer systems, may be used within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

While there have been disclosed in this specification two forms in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be'understood that these formsare shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the inventionis not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimentscoming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention what is claimed as new and forwhich it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

